But also - Jon Favreau could just be a hack. (affectionate)
I believe that just as easily, he’s always been of a piece with the Russos, Shawn Levy, and JJ Abrams - business is a part of their art. Grogu was always his baby - his marketing savvy - he doesn’t need the studio to tell him to retreat back into it.
And that doesn’t mean execs didn’t, but at what point in the blanket diagnoses does Gilroy’s blank check from saving R1 reconcile with what should be Favreau’s for delivering Mandalorian?
Favreau is probably like 65% a hack, I agree - but the problems with these Disney+ shows just appear to me like issues that go above and beyond what you’d expect just from writing blank checks to creative types.
I mean, what they pulled with Mandalorian Season 3 (bringing back Grogu in a spin-off show) is just unprecedented levels of baffling stupidity or desperation. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything close to this with a mainstream television show, at least not since the late 80s when some network executives decided to retcon an entire season of Dallas into a bad dream.